Instability in SOLIDWORKS due to conflict with Microsoft KB3072630

SummaryThere is a conflict with Microsoft KB3072630 (published July 14 2015) which can cause SOLIDWORKS to

become unstable when installed or updated after KB3072630 is applied. The Microsoft update makes

changes to Windows Installer which prevents SOLIDWORKS installations (new, modify/repair, update or

uninstall) from being executed correctly. We are working diligently to produce a software fix as soon as

possible in SOLIDWORKS 2015 and 2016, however in the interim please review the information below

to prevent and correct instability caused by this conflict.

Affected softwareSOLIDWORKS 2011 - 2015, and SOLIDWORKS 2016 beta.

SymptomsInstability may appear in many different functional areas of the software, so the list below may not be

complete. Known symptoms are:

Missing add-ins from the SOLIDWORKS add-ins list in the Tools menu.

Error when launching SOLIDWORKS or opening a file: "Could not load SOLIDWORKS DLL:

GdtAnalysisSupport.dll".

Crashes when recording, playing or editing a SOLIDWORKS Macro.

Instability when using Equations.

Error when launching SOLIDWORKS or SOLIDWORKS Explorer: "DWG document manager library is

invalid or missing".

SolutionFirst, check if you have KB3072630 installed:

1. From the Windows Control Panel, click Windows Update.

2. In the left pane, click View update history.

3. Browse the list of installed updates to check if KB3072630 was installed. If present, it will have

been installed on or after July 14 2015.

4. If KB3072630 is installed on your system please review the recommendations in the applicable

scenario below. 

Important: We do not recommend uninstalling KB3072630 since it is an important security update.

Please see below for next steps. 

Important: Serious problems may occur if you make incorrect changes to the registry. We advise you

to make a backup of your registry using the information here. We advise you to work with your IT

administrators when following the procedures below.Scenario 1

Users who have not yet installed or updated SOLIDWORKS since KB3072630 was applied.To prevent

problems we recommend temporarily disabling KB3072630 before installing or updating SOLIDWORKS:

1. Temporarily disable the KB3072630 security fix (we do not recommend uninstalling it) by either

following steps (a)-(f) below or double-click KB3072630_Disable.reg from this zip file.

    a. Click Start, click Run, type "regedit" in the Open box, and then click OK.

    b. Locate and click the following subkey in the registry:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer

    Note If this subkey does not exist, create it.

    c. In the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.

    d. For the DWORD name, type "RemappedElevatedProxiesPolicy", and then press Enter.

    e. Right-click RemappedElevatedProxiesPolicy, and then click Modify.

    f. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.

2. Install, update or uninstall SOLIDWORKS in the normal way.

3. After SOLIDWORKS installs or updates successfully, reset

the RemappedElevatedProxiesPolicy DWORD value to 0 to re-enable the security fix for KB

3072630. Scenario 2

Users who have installed or updated SOLIDWORKS after KB3072630 was applied – where SOLIDWORKS

was installed using the ‘standalone’ installation method. Your SOLIDWORKS installation is likely to be

unstable and subsequent uninstallation will likely fail. We recommend the following method to repair

your SOLIDWORKS installation:

1. Follow step 1 from Scenario 1.

2. Run a Repair of your SOLIDWORKS Installation from Programs and Features in the Windows

Control Panel. Find the SOLIDWORKS installation then select Change, then choose Repair from

the Installation Manager options and follow on-screen prompts.

3. After the SOLIDWORKS installation is repaired, reset

the RemappedElevatedProxiesPolicy DWORD value to 0 to re-enable the security fix for KB

3072630. Scenario 3

Users who have installed or updated SOLIDWORKS after KB3072630 was applied – where SOLIDWORKS

was installed using an Administrative Image. Your SOLIDWORKS installation is likely to be unstable. It

is necessary to uninstall SOLIDWORKS, we recommend following this procedure:

1. Uninstall SOLIDWORKS from Programs and Features in the Windows Control Panel. Find the

SOLIDWORKS installation then select Uninstall.

2. Follow step 1 from Scenario 1.

3. Install SOLIDWORKS from your Administrative Image.

4. After SOLIDWORKS installs successfully, reset the RemappedElevatedProxiesPolicy DWORD

value to 0 to re-enable the security fix for KB 3072630.